Now it appears as though the Man of Steel team has settled on one other key actor... the city of Chicago.

The Calgary Herald reports (thanks to SR reader, Nicolas) that Alberta, Canada lost the contract for a Superman: Man of Steel unit shoot to the Windy City - because they didn't have enough "big cargo planes" and "attack helicopters." Further proof that the reboot could be Snyder's "most realistic film to date."

According to the Alberta minister of culture, Lindsay Blackett:

“They said our incentives were fine, in fact our incentives were superior to what they were being offered in terms of money in Illinois. But they needed an aircraft carrier, they needed jets — which we have — but they needed big cargo planes that we don’t have. They also wanted attack helicopters which we don’t have. The U.S. military was willing to accommodate whatever they wanted and we couldn’t do that.”

The Calgary Herald reports that the Chicago shoot is a unit project - meaning it could just be a lot of establishing shots as well as cutaways and may not necessarily include principal cast members. That said, it's encouraging to hear that the Man of Steel script includes a large-scale threat that would require dispatching an aircraft carrier and attack helicopters - not to mention significant local construction.

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IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) Local 212 President, Damian Petti, added that -despite the limited number of shooting days - had filming been held in Alberta, it would have included a pair of significant constructions that could have meant a lot of work for local builders:

“We had heard there would have been a lot of construction attached to it. So there would have been work for non-shooting crew as well. It was going to be two pieces. The build might be longer than the shoot.”

Of course, what exactly the team would have needed built is anyone's guess.

Regardless, the unit production is headed to Transformers 3 and Dark Knight alumni Chicago - which is making a real name for itself lately as the go-to backdrop for big-budget projects. Whether or not the unit will shoot in the actual city or in the oft-rumored Plano area is unknown at this point. It's also likely the Plano rumor, which would be a great location for the Kent farm, could be an entirely separate shoot (as that one is expected to run ten or more weeks).

Any supremely disappointed Canadian readers shouldn't feel too slighted, principle production on the Man of Steel is still expected to take place this summer in Vancouver.

Follow us on Twitter @benkendrick and @screenrant and let us know what you think of Chicago and Vancouver as Man of Steel shooting locales.

Superman: Man of Steel is produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder, and is set to hit theaters in December 2012.